Stay mechanisms



y 16, 1968 c. A. SECKERSON ETAL 3,392,997

- STAY MECHANISMS Filed May 5. 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOIZS Pau/ Girl Foyer finder Ulfford fl/emnder fed elven p fiw' a; Wwzng y flf/amey STAY MECHANISMS 3 Sheets-$heet 2 Filed May 5, 1965 INVENTORS Pdu/ (ar/ foyer fifmberg y c. A. SECKERSON E STAY- MECHANISMS s Shets-Sheet 5 Filed May 5, 1965 FIGS United States Patent 3,392,997 r l STAY MECHANISMS Clifford-Alexander Seckerson, Iver Heath, and Paul Carl Roger Fernberg, Farnham Common, England, assignors to United-Carr Incorporated, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 5, 1965, Ser. No. 453,457 Claims priority," application Great Britain, May 7, 1964,

19,066/64; Dec. 24, 1964, 52,429/64 6 Claims. ((31. 292-268) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A stay arm for holding two relatively movable members apart. Two spaced, generally parallel limbs act as a guideway for a pin extending there-between. The limbs are joined at one end by an end plate pivotally connected to one of the members. Means are provided between the limbs for snap-engagement with a pin attached to the other of the members whereby the pin is snappingly held in a position to positively hold the two members apart.

The pin is releasable by application of a manual force to one of the members in a direction tending to move said one member toward the other member.

The present invention relates to a stay arm for holding two relatively movable members apart and which is particularly, but not exclusively, suitable for use in holding the bonnet of a rear-engined vehicle in the open position.

According to the invention there is provided a stay arm for holding two relatively movable members apart and comprising. two spaced generally parallel limbs adapted to act as a guideway for a pin extending there between, the limbs being joined at one end by a substantially flat end plate provided with means for attaching the stay arm'pivotally to one of the members and being joined at their other ends by a substantially flat web formed with a stop, the distance between the limbs being reduced adjacent the stop to form a neck in the guideway and one or both of the limbs being sufiiciently resilient to allow a pin attached to the other of the said members and of diameter approximately equal to the spacing between the limbs to snap through the neck into engagement with the stop.

'According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a stay arm for holding two relatively movable members apart, one of which has a rigidly attached projecting pin, the stay arm being substantially channel shaped to provide two parallel limbs joined by a fiat base, the base being slotted adjacent one limb to form a guideway for the said pin and provided at one end with means for attachment to the other of said members and the other of the said limbs carrying a resilient member having a projecting finger formed with an elbow overlying the guideway for the said pin and providing a resiliently movable interference in the guideway to movement of the pin therealong.

Preferred forms of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation showing a stay mechanism according to theinventionholding the bonnet of a vehicle in the open position;

- FIGURE 2 is an elevation similar to FIGURE 1, but showingthe bonnet in the closed position;

,FIGURE 3 is a front elevation. of the stay arm of FIGURES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 4 is, a side elevation similar to FIGURE 1, but showinga stay .mechanism incorporating a modification of the stay arm of FIGURE 3,

, 3 3 9 Patented July 16, 1968 I ice FIGURE 5 is -a front elevation of the spring forming a part of the stay arm of FIGURE 4, and l 9 FIGURE 6 is a side elevation similar to FIGURE 4 but showing a modified spring.

FIGURES l and 2 illustrate a'stay mechanism, which is indicated at 10, comprising astay arm 11 and two flanges 12 and 13. a 1 The stay mechanism 10 is attached between a vehicle frame 14 and bonnet 15 which is hinged to the frame 14 and movable relative to the frame 14 from the closed position of FIGURE 2 to the open position of FIGURE 1 where it is held against return by the stay mechanism 10.

The stay arm 11 is manufactured from a single strip of material, such as steel by shearing an elongate slot from the strip, stamping a rib in the strip across and adjacent to one end of the slot and then bending the sides of the strip including all the material on either side of the slot upwardly at right angles to the strip and on the same side of the strip as the rib. The arm 11 is then rendered resilientand rustproof in'any convenient manner.

The finished arm comprises two spaced resilient limbs 16 and 17 joined at one end by a substantially fiat plate 18 and at the other end by a substantially flat web 19. The limbs 16 and 17, which comprise the material lying on each side of the slot sheared in the blank strip, extend approximately in parallel and at right angles to the plate 18 and web 19.

Adjacent the web 19 the limbs 16 and 17 are crimped inwardly to form a neck 20 the crimping being formed by the rib stamped in the strip during manufacture.

The web 19 is formed with an extension directed to Wards the neck 20 and acting'as a stop 21.

The plate 18 is pivotally attached'to the flange 12 by means of an aperture 18A which receives and acts as a be'aring for a pivot pin 23 rigidly attached to the flange 12 which is bolted to the bonnet 15. I

The other flange 13' is bolted to the vehicle frame 14 and carries a cylindrical pin 24 which extends through the limbs 16 and 17 of the arm 11 and is retained there: through by a-circular flange 25;

The diameter of the pin 24 and the dimensions of the arm 11 are such that the pin 24 is lightly held between the limbs 16-and 17 and can be snap-engaged past the neck 20 into abutment with the stop 21, in which position it is held under tension so that it cannot rattleor vibrate.

In use, the bonnet 15 is lifted from the position shown in FIGURE 2 drawing the limbs of the arm over the pin 24 until the pin meets the neck 20. A sharp jerk on the bonnet i-s suflicient to snap-engage the neck 20 over the pin and into abutment with the stop 21. The bonnet is now held in the raised position by the arm 11 and any play or movement between the arm 11 and the pin 24 is prevented by the pinching action of the limbs 16, 17 and the stop 21 on the pin.

In order to close the bonnet a sharp downward pull is given to the bonnet to snap-engage the neck 20 over the pin 24 and the bonnet is then lowered easily into the closed position.

The limbs 16 and 17 provide a guideway for the pin 24 over the whole of its travel along the arm and both limbs are strengthened by lengthwise extending external ribs 26 and 27, respectively. If desired, the ribs 26 and 27 may be formed on the inside of the limbs, in which event the pin 24 rides on the ribs.

FIGURE 4 illustrated at 30 a modification of the stay mechanism 10 of FIGURES 1 and 2. The stay mechanism 30 is similar its manner of operation to the stay mechanism 10 but differs in that it includes a stay arm 31 which is substantially channel shaped and comprises two rela- --tively rigid limbs 32 and 33 joined by a base 34.

A slot 35 is formed in the base 34 adjacent thelimb 33 and the material at the ends of the base 34 forms an end plate 36 and a web 37.

The end plate 36 is pivoted to the fiange 12 in the same manner as the stay arm 11 and the pin 24 projects through the slot 35, which acts as the guideway for the pin.

The limb 32 includes a resilient member, in the form of a spring 38, which is releasably attached to the limb. The spring 38, which is shown in detail in FIGURE 5, comprises a base 39 which is attached to the limb 32 and two resilient fingers 42 and 43.

The base 39 is attached to the limb 32 with the aid of a tongue 40 and lug -41 which snap-engage-into an aperture, not shown, in the limb 32 and the two resilient fingers 42 and 43 extend from opposite ends of the base 39.

The fingers 42 is inclined first towards the limb 33 and then back towards the limb 32 so as to form an elbow 44 which overlies one end of the slot 35 and forms a neck 44A therein and free end 45 of the resilient finger 42 is then bent over and around the limb 33. The finger 42 is inclined towards and overlies the other end of the slot 35.

In use, the arm 31 can move freely over the pin 24 from the position, not shown, in which the bonnet is lowered and the pin 24 is held firmly against the limb 33 by the finger 43, to prevent any rattle or vibration, to the position in which the bonnet is partially raised and the pin 24 abuts the elbow 44 in the resilient finger 43.

In order to raise the bonnet fully, it is lifted sharply so as to snap-engaged the pin 24 through the neck 44A into the position shown in FIGURE 4. The bonnet is then held in the raised position by the spring 58 until a sufiioient downward force is applied to the bonnet to snap-engage the pin back through the neck 44A formed by the elbow 44.

The engagement of the free end 45 of the resilient finger 42 of the spring 38 behind the limb 33 of the arm 31 is not essential and serves only to increase the resistance which the spring ofiers to movement of the pin 24.

In a modification of the arm 31, which is illustrated in FIGURE 6 a spring 50 'is provided which has resilient fingers 51 and 52, the free end of the finger 51 overlying one end of the slot 35 and the finger 52 having an elbow 53 overlying the other end of the slot and a free end 54 which is free to move and flex resiliently away from the limb 33.

It will be seen that the stay mechanisms illustrated and described herein provide a convenient and efiicient means for holding the bonnet of a vehicle in the open or raised position in the manner described but it will be appreciated that, either mechanism can be used to hold any two relatively movable members apart in a similar manner and that minor modification may be made to the mechanism without departing from the scope of the invention claimed.

e What we claim iszv 2.

1 A one-piece, stamped, sheet metal stay arm for holding two-relatively movable'membersapart and comprising two spaced, fiexible, generally parallel limbs providing a guideway for a pin attached to one of the members and extending between .the limbs, the limbs being joined adjacent one end of the guideway by a substantially fiat end plate which is pivotally attached to one of the members and being joined adjacent their other ends by a substantially fiat web formed with a stop projecting from the web toward the end plate, opposed portions of the limbs adjacent the stop having been pinched inwardly to form a neck in the guideway, the inwardly pinched portions and the stop defining a pin-receiving pocket which is in straight line communication with the remainder of the guideway, the limbs being Isuffioiently resilient to allow the pin which has a diameter approximately equal to the spacing between the limbs to snap through the neck into the pocket and into engagement with the 'stop.

2. A stay arm as claimed .in claim 1 in which the limbs are generally fiat and perpendicular to the end plate and web.

3. A stay arm as claimed in claim 2 in which each limb is formed with a lengthwise extending rib.

4. A stay arm as claimed in claim 1 in which the pin is held under tension between the neck and the stop after snapping through the neck.

5. A stay arm for holding two relatively movable members apart, one of which has a rigidly attached projecting pin, the stay arm being substantially-channel shaped to provide two parallel limbs joined by a fiatbase. the base being slotted adjacent one limb to form a guideway for the said pin and :provided at one end with means for attachment to the other of said members and the other of the said limbs carrying a resilient member having a projecting finger formed with an elbow overlying the guideway for the said pin and providing a resiliently movable interference in the guideway to movement of the pin therealong, the resilient member comprising a spring attached to the said other limb and having one finger formed with an elbow overlying one end of the guideway and another finger extending towards the one limb so as to overlie the other end of the guideway.

6. A stay arm as claimed in claim -5, in which the free end of said one finger of the spring is resiliently engaged behind the said one limb to strengthen resistance of the elbow to movement away from the said one limb.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 851,192 4/ 1907 Younglove 292-272 1,707,511 4/ 1929 Cornnell 16-138 1,775,116 9/ 1930 Bertrand 292-268 3,165,777 1/1965 Peras 16-85 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner. E. J. MCCARTHY, Assistant Examiner. 

